A battery technology worth its salt
With lithium-containing batteries facing constraints on many of the metals they contain, Nina Notman looks at whether its group 1 neighbour sodium can supply the answer
The lithium-ion battery powers much of our modern lives. It resides in devices ranging from very small wearable electronics, through mobile phones and laptops, to electric vehicles and ‘the world’s biggest battery’ – the huge 100MW/129MWh Tesla battery installed on an Australian wind farm in 2017. A number of disruptive battery technologies are jostling to take a share of lithium-ion’s multibillion pound market – currently valued at over $37 billion (£30 billion), and projected to reach $90 billion within five years. For sodium-ion batteries, its developers have primarily (but not exclusively) set their sights on the large-scale, stationary market – such as Tesla’s Australian installation.